Federal skilled workers selection criteria: Arranged employment – Role of ESDC

Assessing offers of employment – Applications received on or before November 15, 2022

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is legislatively mandated to provide an opinion, on the same basis as an opinion provided for the issuance of a work permit, namely that the requirements set out in subsection R203(1) with respect to an offer of employment in an occupation listed in skill type 0 (Managerial occupations), skill level A (Professional occupations) or skill level B (Technical occupations and skilled trades) of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) have been met.

For the purpose of assessing arranged employment in the federal skilled worker class, officers should treat all Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) equally, regardless of whether the LMIA was issued in support of an application for permanent residence or for a work permit.

In assessing the offer of employment, ESDC verifies the following:

• the genuineness of the offer of employment and the history of the employer
• that the job offer is for permanent, full-time, non-seasonal work
• whether there are qualified Canadians or permanent residents available for the job and whether the employer tried to recruit them first
• whether the employment is likely to have a neutral or positive effect on the Canadian labour market
• for employers that have received an LMIA in the previous 2 years, the assessment considers employer compliance with respect to the terms and conditions approved by ESDC in relation to wages, working conditions and occupation.

ESDC does not assess the applicant’s qualifications for the job (including skills and education); this is the role of  Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). ESDC communicates exclusively with the employer and third party representative.

ESDC requires employers to submit certain supporting documents with their LMIA application. These documents are listed on the LMIA application form available on the ESDC website.

Validity of the ESDC assessment

Prior to visa issuance, officers must verify in Global Case Management System (GCMS) that the positive LMIA relating to the offer of employment has not been revoked or cancelled. Officers should also ensure that no adverse information on the employer has since come to light, by referring to the list of ineligible employers on the ESDC website before visa issuance. If there are concerns about the validity of the LMIA, officers may contact ESDC.

To verify the positive LMIA decision relating to an offer of employment, visa offices must ensure that the ESDC system file number is entered in the “ESDC File #” field under the Economic Column in the IMM screen of GCMS. Officers should click on the “ESDC view” tab, and then click on “Refresh” in order to obtain the most current ESDC information. Alternatively, if the ESDC file number is not available, the visa office can conduct a search in the “SEARCH>Employment Validation” screen by entering the applicant’s name and date of birth.

Fraud detection

Officers should always review the “ESDC Comments” field in GCMS for information entered by an ESDC/Service Canada officer during their LMIA assessment. The information in this field is intended to

• provide visa officers with critical information used by ESDC to arrive at a positive or negative assessment of the employer and job offer, including but not limited to proof of existence of the business, financial status, materialization of employment from previous arranged employment opinions/LMIAs, recruitment of the applicant by the employer
• assist visa officers with verifying and cross-checking the information provided by the applicant to CIC and that which is provided by the employer to ESDC

Officers should also ensure that the details of the job offer provided by the applicant matches the details indicated in the LMIA.

If any of the information does not match, officers may contact ESDC, as there may be information not found in GCMS that was acquired by ESDC during their assessment of the employer’s LMIA application. Following consultation with ESDC, officers should also contact the applicant or the employer for further information or clarification regarding details of the job offer, including addressing any concerns about the genuineness of the job offer.